ON THE FRINGES ... CONFERENCE DIARY

摘要

While the Conservative Party national leadership is four-square behind increasing housebuilding, the party conference would not be the same if the fringe meetings didn't expose the different reality of local Conservative politics. Many attendees posed questions of how to oppose developments, and housing minister Brandon Lewis valiantly made the case the other way. At one such meeting the leader of the Local Government Association, Gary Porter, said he does not intend to even introduce a local plan in his South Holland district because he doesn't really believe in planning. He said - to applause - "I'm talking about the real good old days [...] when if I owned a piece of land and wanted to build, then I did." Lewis, who is also planning minister, has something of a challenge bringing all this together.